LentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilasAirplane jet turbine engine auxiliary mechanic non-commissioned officer studentThe longest Finnish word but an actual military term in the Air Force.

On the mispronunciations, the place I had trouble with was the American state Arkansas - I knew Kansas was pronounced as it was spelt, so why the difference ?Favourite words - serendipity & happenstance.

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“Life is not a journey to the grave with intentions of arriving safely in a pretty well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming ... WOW! What a ride!”

Thanks for the link triviapaul! I'm not sure I'm ever going to be able to say any of them without a lot of practice. I suppose I should brush up on my Finnish now I have dual citizenship as of last week!

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A platypus lays eggs and produces milk - it can make its own custard

I love 'oxymoron' it makes me smile. Then there are a lot of towns in Namivia that have great names - Otjiwarongo, Gobabis, Okahandja, Tsumeb,Okakararawhich, to name a few. I hate the word 'learner' - why can't it just be student?

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"If Life Were Easy Where Would All The Adventure Be?"

At about age eight I caused a minor sensation at school be confusing rumour and aroma. I think I'd written something about an *arumour. The teacher asked me what I meant and I replied by saying the word could mean 'the smell of tea or coffee' or 'a story going round'.

I'm not sure whether I ever misread misled, but I remember being momentarily nonplussed when I read in a school history book that our troops in the Crimean War were underfed. I interpreted it as un-derfed and wondered what on earth was involved in derfing a soldier.

Oxymoron's a great word. A mate of mine calls them "poxymorons". I think we should all get together and work out a definition of derf. I'm sure it's a word in a language somewhere. As for a synonym being used because you can't spell the word you want, well I'm guilty of that ;-)

I have a new word for my favourites list. "Bumbershoot"! It's a 19th century American term for umbrella. I love the word brolly but bumbershoot has overtaken it temporarily. It's in a quiz I wrote coming soon so if you see it you'll know what it is

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A platypus lays eggs and produces milk - it can make its own custard

My mother grew up reading much more than her family and neighbours, became a school teacher and parent, and only discovered in her 50s (corrected by her helpful children) that "misled" WASN'T pronounced "mizzled." She'd have been comforted to know from this discussion that her error was so common!

I find it hard to choose one or two favourites from the tens of thousands of words available in just the English language, with new ones added every day. Peregrination does arbitrarily come to my mind, and hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia could apply to those who are afraid to finish long Finnish words.

Hello, my name is Ralph,I like the word curmudgeon. Why? You ask? This is what I have posted on a website I have:

I've come to the conclusion that I may possibly be a "Curmudgeon". Be honest now, if you didn't know what the term meant...what was the first thing that popped into your mind? My thought was some sort of an ocean crustacean. I should be rotten, and if the definition is foreign to you make you look it up. Being the nice guy that I am, I'll tell you for one reason only. The definition of the term will probably not be exactly the same as the one I'm about to give you, as the [archaic] rendering is: a crusty, ill-tempered, churlish old man. The [modern] definition is: anyone who hates hypocrisy and pretense and has the temerity to say so; anyone with the habit of pointing out unpleasant facts in an engaging and humorous manner. (That does not give you license to judge, demean, nor treat people with anything less than respect, honor, and dignity. I don't give a rats butt who they are or what they do. Try viewing their actions and behavior from their perspective instead of yours. Try and gain some understanding of that individual, and whether you like or dislike what you think you see...love them always. Lord knows we need to clean up our own doorsteps first...then go in for the kill:).

Another word I'm fond of is 'compassion'. I think we all need it and need to show it.

I have a few because they make me laugh when I hear them [someone I know mispronounced them]: coup, debris, paradigm, lineage, indigenous [all those words but one were from when I was in anthropology class, and the person who pronounced them wrong was the one reading my textbooks]

I like the word “inconceivable” because every time I see or hear it I’m reminded of the most common dictionary definition: “not conceivable”) [I cracked up when I saw that].

When I first saw the place names “Nova Scotia” and “Saudi Arabia” written, I didn’t pronounce them right. To this day, my mother and I still laugh about that (and I was definetly old enough to know better with “Saudi Arabia”)

Mom’s ex-boyfriend’s daughter used to say “walermelon” instead of “watermelon.” She could say “watermelon,” but for whatever reason whenever she was talking fast it didn’t come out right. [Her brother, incidentally, said “Lebadon” instead of “Lebanon.”]

Place names I like would have to be Trout Run and Wyamissing.

Someone I know doesn't pronounce the r in California, and it's not the local accent, so it makes me laugh [she grew up here and has never beenout of the state].

I forgot all about happenstance. Don’t see or hear it much.

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(1) Young I may be, but even young people are entitled to their opinions.(2)Attempting to silence me doesn't hurt me, but the silencer.(3) I must remain true to myself.